Soul Retreats: Picture This

Memories are precious. Even those stored during bad times contain the lacy crystals of hope and joy, and they remind you of God's tender hand encouraging and delivering you in your time of need. 

Other memories remind you of good times with images you want to keep forever - a loved one's smile, children as they grow, places you've been, and people you've known. 

Take a break from the busyness of your day and immerse yourself in your precious memories... and as you move along your trail of memories, whisper a word of thanksgiving to God for each person and place God has used to decorate your life. 

Laugh and cry, smile and sigh as you wander through. The release of your emotions will help your tension dissipate and restore to you a sense of happiness and well-being. 

As you take your walk down through memory lane, let God show you how, by His grace, you have made a difference and have received a bounty of gifts from his hands. 

--- 

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing. 

Proverbs 10:7

---o0o---

One generation shall praise thy works to another; and shall declare thy mighty acts. 

O Lord... they shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sign of thy righteousness. 

Psalm 145:4,7

---o0o---

God has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate.

Psalm 111:4

---o0o---

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

Remember the wonders he has done,

his miracles and the judgment he pronounced.

Psalm 105:4-5

---o0o---

I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

Psalm 77:10-11

---o0o---

A righteous man will be remembered forever. 

Psalm 112:6

---o0o---

Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Psalm 30:4

---o0o---

Jesus said, "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

John 14:26

---

God's Help In Time of Temptation

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

JAMES 1:12-18

---

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

HEBREWS 4:14-16

---

I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground.  In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.  All of them ate the same spiritual food,  and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.

Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites.  And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-13